


This Christmas

by dancey94



Category: Hannibal (TV)
Genre: Christmas Dinner, Christmas Eve, Christmas Presents, Domestic, Domestic Bliss, Domestic Fluff, Fluff, HannibalHoliday, Kissing, M/M, On the Run, Post-Episode: s03e13 The Wrath of the Lamb
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-25
Updated: 2017-12-25
Packaged: 2019-02-19 05:35:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,422
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13117125
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dancey94/pseuds/dancey94
Summary: After The Fall, Will and Hannibal change locations until they find a lovely secluded house in the Northern Europe where they celebrate Christmas.





	This Christmas

**Author's Note:**

  * For [kronette](https://archiveofourown.org/users/kronette/gifts).



> this story is a part of the #HannibalHoliday exchange and is a gift to a fellow Fannibal @kronette  
> Happy Holidays guys! <333

“Don’t get attached. This is just a temporary stop.” Will heard Hannibal behind his back.

He didn’t have to be told that. He knew they were there just for a week or two. Before the dust settled and they could go further. Still, he had managed to take to the place. The winter was different there than back at home. Funny how he still thought of Wolf Trap as his home, even though he hadn’t been there for years. He had been tempted to visit, see how the house looked, who lived there and how, but he had never actually go through with it. It was too late now, he reckoned. He assumed he’d never see Wolf Trap again. Perhaps that was for the best.

He was sitting by the window, looking out at the falling snow. The room was screaming with silence but Will’s mind was filled with melodies – music he used to listen to and voiced he used to hear. Hannibal’s voice. Mostly from old times, when a lot of things had seemed easier. When he hadn’t been sleeping in one room with a serial killer. Now, that he thought of it – why hadn’t he? Had he known? Or suspected, at least?

Well, now he knew and that didn’t change much. He still wanted Hannibal by his side.

As if reading Will’s mind, Hannibal stepped closer and wrapped a blanket around Will’s shoulders. Seconds later, a high cup of tea was placed on the windowsill. Will smiled at the white deer running along the red background. Steam was dancing over the hot liquid and disappeared by the curtain hanging low. After all, they were hiding. Still, Will had allowed himself the pleasure of watching the world silently moving on from the front seat.

“Do you see the house on the right?”

Hannibal nodded. He was standing next to Will, trying to follow his lover’s gaze.

“It could be my home.”

“I believe that home follows you. So wherever you go, you can be at home.”

“Please, don’t tell me that home is where the heart is.”

“And what if it is so? Do you think prison was my home for three years?”

Will closed his eyes, silently answering the question and admitting that his words had been insensitive.

“We can make home at our next stop,” Hannibal said, offering a compromise.

“For how long?”

“For however long we want. I suspect it will be our final stop.”

“I’m sorry.”

Will tightened the blanket around himself, creating a protective barrier. He smiled as he imagined himself looking like a chrysalis. Would he turn into a beautiful butterfly once he shook off the blanket?

“I’m being ungrateful for no reason.”

Hannibal held out his hand which Will took without hesitation. He wasn’t particularly surprised when Hannibal brought Will’s palm to his lips and kissed it.

***

Will was standing on the porch, leaning against a wooden pillar with his arms crossed on his chest. He was staring at the lake before him and watched the pines, the spruces and the mountains reflected in the water surface. Then, he smiled as he smelt the sweet scent of the freshly made eggnog.

“I always envied you.”

Hannibal’s voice reached Will so he turned his head. He accepted the cup with a frown.

“The house in Wolf Trap,” Hannibal explained. “In the middle of nowhere. Secluded and peaceful.”

“Just like here,” Will said as he looked around. He was constantly fighting the urge to yell to hear the echo. “Did you pick it on purpose? I mean, other than that it makes a perfect hideaway?”

Hannibal offered a seemingly shy smile and said, “Still, it must be different.”

Will narrowed his eyes, pretending to be thinking. “It’s colder,” he concluded and stepped inside the house.

Bosie was sleeping by the fireplace, curled in a small ball of fur. Will sighed as he sipped the eggnog, sat down on the couch and covered his lap with a fluffy blanket Hannibal had bought him a few weeks before. He refrained from turning on the tv. Instead, he looked at the clock and decided he could do with a short nap.

As he lay down on the couch, he smiled, thinking how he resembled Bosie in the foetal position.

 

Gentle rubbing woke him. Will didn’t dare to open his eyes, not yet. He decided to relish the moment of affection. Warm fingers kept stroking his nape, ruffling his hair, massaging his scalp. Will felt the fluffy blanket on his shoulders like a shield, protecting him from the cold world full of violence.

With his eyes still closed, Will extended his arm, blindly searching for Hannibal, who was standing behind the couch, with his elbows supported on the back of it. Will found Hannibal’s free hand and entwined their fingers tightly – a clutch to reality.

“It’s after eight. I thought we could start Christmas dinner,” Hannibal whispered, his eyes focused on his hand conjoined with one of Will’s.

“Mhm,” Will murmured. Slowly, he sat up on the couch, not even for a second breaking the connection. Instead, Will pulled Hannibal closer, making him move his leg over the back of the couch until his knee was dipping in the mattress and his other leg was hesitant whether to cross the border, too, or stay firmly grounded.

Only when Will brought their hands to his chest did Hannibal made the decision. His other leg joined the first one on the couch and there Hannibal was – right between Will’s legs which could nurture or crush him. The men stayed in that position for a moment before Will leant forward and brushed his cheek against Hannibal’s one. “I’m starving. Let’s go.”

Will released Hannibal’s hand and sashayed to the kitchen lit by plenty of candles – some on decorative candlesticks, some in small jars. He found the fish he’d caught sprawled on a large plate decorated with slices of lemon and cranberries. Then, he felt a chill swoosh of air as Hannibal walked past him and pulled a chair for him. Will sat down, succumbing to the evening’s atmosphere. Hannibal poured them red wine and placed the glasses next to the mugs with compote.

That was it – the Christmas Eve. Will sighed and blinked with heavy eyes.

“You told me I was family once.”

Hannibal smiled as he sat down in the chair opposite Will. “You are. That’s why we’re here. Together.”

“Sharing a family Christmas dinner – how proper.”

“How many have you shared in your life?”

Will decided to leave the question hanging. Instead, he dug into the fish. As he took the first bite, he seemed to sober up. “Did you give Bosie some of it?”

“Yes. I took care of her Christmas dinner as well. It should keep her busy for a while.”

Will managed to hold back the moan of delight as he tasted the fish. He watched Hannibal carefully cut the meat and then chew it. It was objectively creepy, yet staggeringly fascinating and Will could not help staring. He observed the way Hannibal’s jaw worked and wondered how it must have felt – to have such a sophisticated palate, to taste differently due to more sensitive taste buds. It was in Hannibal’s smile, one that spread to the eyes and lit up his face like a neon sign screaming “DELICIOUS!” It was more than the simple matter of taste, too. Will was aware that the message roamed all over Hannibal’s nervous system and transmitted the positive energy – from the taste buds to the brain, then from the brain everywhere else.

“Do you not like it?” Hannibal asked, making Will realise he’d been staring for too long and far more intensively than he’d imagined. Not that it shocked or offended anyone.

“It’s perfect.”

They finished the fish and moved on to the compote. Will loved the sweet taste of the various berries and the Christmassy scent of cinnamon.

“Is that how you celebrated Christmas Eve with Mischa?”

Hannibal looked at Will softly. “It’s how I want to celebrate with you.” Hannibal raised his glass of wine and waited for Will to do the same. They let their glasses clink.

“Would you like to open your present now?” Hannibal asked with a half-smile. It felt like a trap to Will – whatever the gift was, Hannibal must have made sure it was personalised, and once Will accepted it, there was no way back. Whatever it was, it could wait until Will had it his way.

“I’d rather see the look on your face when you unwrap yours.”

With a smile, Hannibal led the way to the living room, where Bosie was, indeed, busy with her Christmas dinner. Will’s heart melted at the sight of his, well, their dog being taken such great care of. Then again, he remembered how generously Hannibal had always treated his dogs back in their old life, when things seemed easier. Now, as he thought of it, things had never been easier.

It was only with the fall that Will believed his true life would start. Now, he was free. Now, he could be himself. He had embraced his dark side a while before but it was only with embracing Hannibal that he acknowledged it. As he fell, he let the dice roll – they would either survive and lead the lives they wanted or they would die and be forever frozen in time as two lovers who consumed each other.

Will followed Hannibal to the living room and watched him reach for the small package on the mantelpiece. He noticed there was another one next to it, waiting for him – a gift from Hannibal.

Bosie looked up – at Hannibal by the fireplace, then at Will, not more than two steps away. As Hannibal pulled the ribbon, Bosie decided she was more interested in her food.

The small box revealed an oval piece of amber with the bullet that Will had taken out of Hannibal’s side in it. Hannibal chuckled as he saw his gift, then turned to Will and spoke.

“Neither a crystal nor a mineral, yet a coveted treasure. A tear of the sun, preserving life. Used to honour the dead and guard the soul in the afterlife.”

“And this is our afterlife.”

With a nod, Hannibal took the other box and held it out for Will to take. It was slightly bigger and with rectangular walls. Will’s fingers brushed against Hannibal’s as he accepted the box. As he lifted the lid, he found a hunting knife inside the box. After caressing the hilt which was made of bone, Will gripped it and took it out of the box.

“A gift to be used in our afterlife?”

“Yes,” Hannibal watched Will get accustomed to the weight of the knife.

Then, they put the gifts back on the mantelpiece. Will added some more wood into the fire, while Hannibal fetched two cups with thick dark hot chocolate. When they were settled on the couch with a cup in hand, Bosie decided to join them. She sniffed the chocolate but apparently didn’t like it and lay down by Hannibal’s thighs.

Will took a sip of the chocolate. He moaned as he licked his lips. “It’s almost perfect,” he concluded.

“Almost?”

“I bet it’s not the type of Christmas Eve that you’re used to. Or that I’m used to, for that matter.”

“The last three Christmas Eves I spent in a tight uniform, surrounded by people who hated me. Good food was not exactly on the menu. No, this is entirely perfect.”

“Oh.” Will sneaked his free hand on top of Hannibal’s and squeezed. Then, he caressed the skin there, learned the texture and the pattern of the veins visibly sticking out – like rivers winding on the map. Will leant closer – so close, in fact, that he could feel Hannibal’s breath and knew Hannibal could feel his. “Then I suppose you wouldn’t care for-”

He didn’t manage to finish the sentence as suddenly he felt Hannibal’s lips on his jaw and neck. Will stretched out his arm enough to put down his cup on the table; then, grabbed Hannibal’s cup and did the same. Only then could Hannibal truly devour Will: his hands wandered along Will’s arm, over his neck and to cup Will’s cheek, where it rested. Meanwhile, Hannibal’s lips covered the other side of Will’s face.

“I care very much,” Hannibal moaned onto Will’s skin.

“Hannibal…” Will sighed and allowed two uncompromising hands to lift the hem of his sweater to take it off completely. With the item of clothing discarded, Will had no way of hiding the goose bumps on his arms which Hannibal started stroking.

Half-undressed, Will found himself under scrutinizing touch which went on exploring the vast space of his skin. This was way too one-sided for Will’s taste so he began unbuttoning Hannibal’s sweater and when he got rid of it, he proceeded to take off a T-shirt which he’d found underneath.

They both made a pause to take in the sight before their eyes. Will was aware of the hunger that had been rising in them and had now a chance to be sated. He watched Hannibal drink in the view and smile appreciatively. Soon though, Hannibal’s eyes met with Will’s and a warm hand caressed Will’s cheek.

Hannibal leant forward and stopped only after his forehead had made contact with Will’s. They were stuck together with their eyes relentlessly watching over the other one. Their reciprocated gaze was so heavily charged that Will almost expected a streak of lightning, a spark of electricity to run between them, which didn’t happen but Will still imagined it.

And then, it happened. Will felt Hannibal’s nose slide against his and then a pair of hot moist lips making contact with his. He had anticipated it and yet it overwhelmed him. The lips remained connected for as long as their foreheads had been, though it felt a whole eternity longer and still not long enough. Will was the one to part and take a breath. With a new dose of oxygen in his veins, he returned to those tempting wide lips and demanded one kiss after another. He didn’t even register the moment when his hands started wandering and ended up on Hannibal’s belt. When his mind did manage to catch up and realise what his body had been up to, Will acquiesced and swiftly undid the belt.

Upon hearing clanking and moaning, Bosie jumped off the couch and settled in her bed by the fire.


End file.
